Using multiple computers and multiple computing devices is becoming commonplace. The need or desire for people to use more than one computer in addition to mobile computing devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile telephones accessing the Internet, is increasing for private and business use. These users frequently use applications to access the Internet and send email, and require cryptography in association with these applications to authenticate, secure, or otherwise protect transmitted and transactional information. Many operating systems, such as Microsoft® Windows®, use specialized services such as a cryptographic service provider (CSP) to implement desired cryptographic standards and algorithms. Typically, a CSP consists of a dynamic-link library (DLL) that implements defined functions in a system program interface, such as Microsoft® Crypto SPI. CSPs typically cooperate with a cryptography application program interface (API) to serve cryptography functions required by applications. CSPs may be any combination of software and hardware, and may implement their functionality in association with a computer device's operating system and processor, or separately in an associated device having its own processing capability.
In a Windows environment, the cryptographic device, such as a CSP, must be installed and registered with the host. This typically involves copying software to the host and modifying configuration data so that the operating system, and particularly the necessary API is aware of the presence of the CSP or the device providing the services of the CSP. Thus, for a user to access and implement cryptographic services on multiple devices, the necessary software or hardware must be installed on each host prior to being able to use the services, if these services are not already installed on the desired host.
Given the ever-increasing need for security and cryptography services, users need to take additional precautions to protect encryption keys and related cryptography functions when using multiple devices. As such, there is a need to provide a secure and efficient way to transport cryptography services from one device to another, while eliminating the need to separately install and register cryptography services and devices on each host.